--- title: "Key concepts - Auto-Respond Docs" description: "The core terminology you'll see across Auto-Respond - source, business, lead, status, voice agent, integration, and inheritance." source: https://auto-respond.com/docs/get-started/key-concepts/ last_updated: 2026-10-06 --- ![Key concepts documentation guide](https://auto-respond.com/assets/docs/get-started-key-concepts.svg "Key concepts Documentation") A visual guide to the Key concepts documentation, covering the setup, configuration, and workflow details explained on this page. Documentation illustration for Key concepts. # Key concepts These are the terms used throughout Auto-Respond and this documentation. Skim this page once and the rest of the product will feel familiar. ## Source A **source** is one connected account or profile on an external platform that sends you customer inquiries. Examples: - One Yelp location = one source. - One Thumbtack Pro account = one source. - One Facebook Page (Messenger) = one source. - One Facebook Lead Ads form campaign = one source. - One Instagram Business account = one source. - One Google Local Services account = one source. Every source has its own **Messaging Settings**, its own **Integrations**, its own row in **Analytics**, and its own price on your monthly bill. See [Lead Sources](https://auto-respond.com/docs/lead-sources/) for the full list of supported platforms. ## Business A **business** is a group that owns one or more sources. For a single-location company this is just “your business”. For a multi-location or multi-brand organization, each business can hold its own set of sources so messaging, branding, and reporting stay separate. ### Switching between businesses If your account has access to more than one business, a **business switcher** button sits at the top of the app next to the logo. It shows the current business’s name with a location-city icon. - Click the button to open a picker dialog listing every business you can access. - Pick a business to switch to it - the sidebar, sources, leads, and analytics all update to that business’s data. - If payment is an issue on the current business, the button shows a **Payment Issue** tooltip as a reminder. Single-business accounts don’t need this - the switcher is only shown when you have more than one business to choose from. ## Lead A **lead** is a single customer inquiry, bound to exactly one source. Each lead has: - A **conversation thread** - every message between your business and the customer. - A **status** - see below. - **Memos** - private notes your team can add (the customer never sees them). - **Customer info** - name, phone, email, address, and any structured details the source extracted from the inquiry. All leads across all sources live together in the [Leads](https://auto-respond.com/docs/leads/) inbox. ## Status A **status** is a label on a lead that tells you where it is in your pipeline. The seven statuses are: - **Answered** (green) - a business reply has been sent. - **No Answer** (red) - no business reply yet. - **Follow-up** (orange) - you’ve flagged this lead for a follow-up. - **Bot Follow-up** (yellow) - the system has queued an automatic follow-up. - **Scheduled Messages** (purple) - a scheduled message is queued for this lead. - **Meeting** (blue) - a meeting/appointment is booked. - **Done** (white/gray) - the lead is closed (won, lost, or not a fit). Full details: [Lead Statuses](https://auto-respond.com/docs/leads/statuses/). ## Contact A **Contact** is a reusable customer profile in the built-in CRM. It can hold multiple phone numbers and email addresses, plus linked Leads, sources, notes, tags, and addresses. When a Lead shares a real phone number or email address, Auto-Respond creates a Contact or links the Lead to a matching Contact in the same business. See [Contacts](https://auto-respond.com/docs/crm/contacts/). ## Job A **Job** is a record of work or an appointment for a customer. It has a status, priority, optional schedule and Calendar, service address, tags, notes, and links to related Contacts or Leads when available. Jobs can be created manually or by a supported AI scheduling flow. The **Jobs** workspace provides shared Calendar and List views. See [Jobs](https://auto-respond.com/docs/crm/jobs/). ## Calendar A **Calendar** defines booking hours, timezone, appointment length, color, and the customer information an AI must collect before booking. When **Built-in Booking** is enabled, the text or voice AI uses the selected Calendar’s open slots. See [Calendar setup](https://auto-respond.com/docs/crm/calendars/). ## Voice Agent A **Voice Agent** is an AI phone agent that: - Answers inbound calls to a phone number you assign it. - Calls new leads outbound when a qualifying lead arrives. - Runs batch call campaigns on a list of contacts. The agent uses a knowledge base you configure to answer questions, qualify callers, and book appointments. See [Voice Agent](https://auto-respond.com/docs/voice-agent/). ## Integration An **integration** is a per-source connection to an external tool. Integrations fall into two categories: - **CRM integrations** - push new leads and conversations into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, GoHighLevel, Workiz, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, AccuLynx, Quickbase, SmartMoving, Monday.com, and similar systems. - **Notification / messenger integrations** - send alerts about new leads or new messages to Slack, Telegram, SMS, or custom webhooks. Each source has its own integrations panel in Messaging Settings. See [Integrations](https://auto-respond.com/docs/integrations/). ## Override and inherit In **Messaging Settings**, a source that belongs to a multi-location business can either **inherit** a setting from its parent business or **override** it with its own value. - **Inherit** means the source uses the same value as the business. Change the business and the source picks up the change automatically. - **Override** means the source has its own value that does not change when the business changes. This lets you set a default at the business level and override only the sources that need to be different. ℹ️ Most small single-location accounts will never touch override/inherit - the default is to use business-level settings and every source inherits. ## Putting it together A typical account looks like this: - One **business** (your company). - Several **sources** under it - one per Yelp location, one per Thumbtack Pro account, one per Facebook Page, and so on. - Each source has its own **Messaging Settings**, **Integrations**, and billing line. - Every inquiry on any source becomes a **lead** in the shared [Leads](https://auto-respond.com/docs/leads/) inbox. - Leads that share real contact information are organized into **Contacts** in the built-in CRM. - Booked or manually entered work becomes a **Job**, which can reserve a slot on a **Calendar**. - Your team triages leads by **status** and lets automation handle follow-ups until a customer replies. *** Questions? Email . Last updated: October 6, 2026